Following a great road trip to conclude October, the Rangers had an early litmus test with the Hurricanes on the calendar for their first game of November. It lived up to the hype. Showing plenty of grit and determination, the Rangers came away with a hard fought 2-1 win over the Hurricanes on Thursday night.

They won their sixth in a row to stay atop the Metropolitan Division. With seven wins in their first nine games, these Rangers are proving themselves in the early part of the schedule. Unlike last season, they grind away. That was on display in edging a good opponent who prides itself on its work ethic.

The difference was a goal scored by rookie Will Cuylle with less than 10 minutes left in the third period. It was the only five-on-five goal scored in the game. He drove to the net and finished off a Jacob Trouba pass for his first career game-winner.

Aho Hit Forces Fox to Leave Game

During the first period, Rangers defenseman Adam Fox was hit by Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho knee on knee. After going down, he mildly protested to the refs about it being a missed call.

Fox took another shift before leaving the game with a lower-body injury. With the Rangers traveling to Minnesota to face the Wild on Saturday, the team had no official update on Fox. Both he and Filip Chytil will be re-evaluated. Chytil also exited the contest late in the second period following an incidental collision with former Ranger Jesper Fast.

Regarding the Aho play on Fox, it’s hard to tell if he stuck his leg out. It looked accidental. Unfortunately, there are plays where two players are going at full speed in the opposite direction. At the last split second, Fox ducked to brace himself for Aho, who couldn’t avoid him. No penalty was called on the play.

In the third period, Alexis Lafreniere challenged Aho. He declined the fight. Instead, Andrei Svechnikov jumped in and played peacemaker. Lafreniere exchanged words with Hurricanes forward Stefan Noesen between the benches.

Although they won the game later on Cuylle’s go-ahead tally, seeing the Rangers stick together was another positive sign. Lafreniere took up for Fox in a tightly contested game. There was lots of character shown by the guys in the blue jerseys at MSG on Thursday night.

Kreider Gets Another Power Play Goal

Early in the game, the Hurricanes got caught with too many men on the ice for a bench minor. That gave the Rangers’ second ranked power play a chance to cash in. Chris Kreider continued his hot start by getting another power-play goal.

After Vincent Trocheck had a pass bank off a Hurricane right to Artemi Panarin, he moved down and sent a nifty backhand feed across that Kreider buried for his team-leading fifth on the power play. Kreider’s five power-play goals lead the NHL this season.

Last season, he couldn’t duplicate the success he had in 2021-22 when he scored a Rangers’ single season franchise record 26 power-play goals. Instead, Kreider only had eight in 2022-23. He scored 24 even strength goals while adding a team best four shorthanded goals. If he continues to finish on the man-advantage, Kreider could be in line for a big season. He’ll need to find more success with linemate Mika Zibanejad at even strength.

Trouba Steps Up

When Fox exited the game due to an injury, that meant more ice time for Trouba. The Rangers’ captain was up to the challenge. He and defense partner K’Andre Miller were outstanding defensively.

Both asserted themselves well to make life difficult on the Hurricanes. They logged the big minutes at five-on-five. Trouba played a team-high 24:56 in 30 shifts with over 23 coming at even strength. He blocked three shots and had two hits along with the primary assist on Cuylle’s game-winner.

Miller logged 23:53 over 28 shifts with two hits and a blocked shot. He and Trouba had sound positioning throughout the game. They each made strong defensive plays to stifle the Hurricanes’ attack. They’ve been in sync since the perfect road trip. The shutdown pair has been more consistent so far this season. They’re a big reason for the 7-2-0 start.

Shesterkin Makes Key Saves

Igor Shesterkin finished the game with 26 saves. That included turning aside a dozen Carolina shots in the deciding period. His best save came during a Hurricanes’ surge late in the third. With over four minutes remaining in regulation, he got over to thwart Martin Necas.

The clutch stop came following a wide shot from Brady Skjei that came right to Necas in the slot. Shesterkin reached out with his glove to keep the puck out with 4:10 left. He heard it from the crowd who serenaded him with “Ig-or, Ig-or,” chants.

Shesterkin made the key saves when he had to. He made good stops on Teuvo Teravainen, Jaccob Slavin, and Tony DeAngelo. It’s that high level of goaltending that the 27-year-old can supply for the Rangers. The win was his fourth straight. He’s made the last three starts, posting a 1.94 goals-against-average (GAA) and a .933 save percentage.

Cuylle Hand Luke Delivers

With the game hanging in the balance, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette stuck out Barclay Goodrow with Cuylle and Blake Wheeler for a shift. At the time, he was mixing and matching due to the Chytil injury. Goodrow moved up to center for that shift. It proved large.

On some good sustained pressure down low that included a nice stick lift by Wheeler, Goodrow got the puck over for a pinching Trouba in the corner. He found a wide open Cuylle in front for the crucial game-winning goal with 9:39 remaining in the third period.

It was Cuylle’s second goal of the season. His first goal since Oct. 14. The 21-year-old forward had a good game. Prior to that shift, he made a strong power move in the slot and tested Andersen with a good shot that the Canes’ goalie Frederik Andersen stopped. In 11:50 of ice time, Cuylle had a goal, three shots-on-goal, and six attempts.

Fourth Line Contributes

In a hard fought game where there wasn’t much space, Laviolette sent out his fourth line for a key shift late in the contest. Protecting a one-goal lead, the trio of Nick Bonino, Goodrow, and Jimmy Vesey put together a strong forecheck in the Carolina zone that ate up precious time. The hard work was appreciated by fans, who cheered.

Goodrow nearly had his first goal of the season. However, with the Canes’ net empty, he just missed scoring with the clock winding down. It didn’t matter. He was out there to finish the game. The Rangers earned the victory.

Brodzinski Recalled From Hartford

With the status of Chytil uncertain due to what the Rangers termed an “upper-body” injury, they recalled center Jonny Brodzinski from Hartford. A solid depth player who’s been reliable when he’s been called up, Brodzinski leads the Wolf Pack in scoring with 11 points (6-5-11) seven games. The 30-year-old could make his season debut for the Rangers on Saturday night at Minnesota.

Trocheck Continues Faceoff Dominance

If there’s been a consistent forward who’s flown under the radar, it’s been Trocheck. He continues to dominate in the faceoff circle. In an early game versus his former team, Trocheck went 14-for-20 on faceoffs.

The breakdown was 8-for-11 in the offensive zone and 6-for-9 in the defensive zone. His success at the dots allowed the Rangers to win the faceoff battle, 32-30 for the game. Bonino was also good, going 6 and 4.

The Defense Rests

After Fox went down in the first period, that forced Laviolette to roll five defensemen. While Trouba and Miller did most of the heavy lifting, the trio of Ryan Lindgren, Erik Gustafsson, and Braden Schneider all had solid games. Each did a good job.

Lindgren led the Rangers with four blocks. Schneider had three hits. Gustafsson played well defensively, making a couple of nice recoveries.